Sunday, June 17, 2007

Three days of pump track fun!

Got a chance to ride on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The main loop is pretty much dialed now and I've been riding it a couple times a week for the past month or so. When I first started I could barely get in 2 laps, now I'm up to about 5 laps before my ticker is redlined and I have to recover for a minute or two. Lap time is about 14-15 seconds depending on how dry and packed the surface is. I'm having more dirt delivered this week so I can add a couple transitions inside the main loop.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

BMX bike = excellent pump track bike

This past weekend I spent Saturday and Sunday tearing around my pump track on my DK Dayton BMX bike. Wow, what a huge difference from the bike I normally ride, a Kona Cowan. 20" bikes are a TON of fun for this type of riding... its a lot easier to "pump" with the smaller/lighter bike and rigid front fork, plus its just so damn easy to throw the bike around. Who knows, I may start riding this bike more than my Kona.

Monday, June 04, 2007

Excellent "How To Pump" video...

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

An hour on the pump track...

I got a chance to ride for about an hour today. The berms are packing in nicely, although still a little soft in spots, especially the top edges. The large berm around the tree is FAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSTTTTT. I'm starting to carry some pretty good speed and can get a little air off the roller at the exit of the berm....eventually that might be a great spot for a double since the exit speed is really high.

I think the straightaway with the 5 small rollers needs some work. I emailed Lee at LeeLikesBikes.com and he recommends a 1:10 ratio for rollers, meaning if the rollers are a foot tall, space them 10 feet apart. That being said, I think I'm going to remove 2 of the rollers and build the other 3 up a little and see how that works.

Sunday, May 20, 2007

Another weekend of pump track work complete....

Worked Saturday and most of Sunday moving about 10 yards of topsoil. If you compare the photos below to the ones I posted above (from last weekend) you'll notice how much taller the berms are now. I also added a few more rollers. The basic layout is now complete, just waiting for it to dry so I can ride on it. Over the next few weeks I'll be getting more topsoil so I can add some new sections inside the main loop. Here are a few pics...

Front view looking back from the house...the section on the far right is the only thing remaining from last years attempt at a pump track. I need to add quite a bit more dirt to get the berms up higher so I can really rip thru there...

Rear view looking toward the house...

My favorite section of the track...just after the first berm, its slightly down hill so you go thru the two small rollers pretty fast before hitting the next berm...

I've put a ton of work into this berm....added quite a bit more dirt to build it up taller and also watered and packed it a lot to try and get it hard. Earlier today I blew thru the top of it again and augered my shoulder into the ground...guess it wasn't packed good enough LOL...

Right after the berm above there are five rollers that lead to a sharp left hander. This section is tough because its slighty uphill and its taking me some time to get the pump down just right to maintain speed...

Another view from the rear of the track...there is a crapload of dirt in that berm...and I might have to add more...

Monday, May 14, 2007

Making progress on the pump track...

Late last fall I started on a pump track but ran out of good weather and didn't get much done on it... fast forward to spring of 2007 and I'm finally making some headway..

Last year I didn't really know what I was doing so I basically made an oval with 2 big berms and a couple rollers. Bad idea. My berms had WAY too large of a radius (about 15' ) and I had to pedal thru them to maintain speed. Not good, considering this was supposed to be a pump track where pedaling is minimal. So, this year I've torn out a few of the berms and re-worked the shape of the track into more of an "L" shape instead of an oval. This weekend I made some progress on a new section that features a couple tighter AND faster berms with a bunch of rollers thrown in to maintain speed.

Next weekend I'm having more dirt delivered so I can make the berms TALLER and hopefully finish the rest of the track. Here are some pics...

The view from the back edge of the track...

Here's the section I worked on this weekend.... takes a lot of riding, digging, watering, and packing to make sure the flow works, the rollers are spaced correctly, and the berms large enough...

Rider view of the section shown above... I need to make both berms TALLER and packed more firmly so I can maintain more speed... I thought I dislocated my shoulder when I blew thru the top of the second berm and abruptly face planted...

This berm has been a pain in the a$$ to get right. And its still not quite right. I'm hauling azz into this thing so I need to make it taller and pack it a lot more firmly....Here's the straightaway that comes right after the berm shown above.. It currently has 6 rollers spaced about 7.5 feet apart...at the end there will be a sharp left hander leading to another straightaway with more rollers...

More to come as I make more progress. Once I finish the basic "L" shaped layout I plan to add more sections so I can ride multiple layouts. Not sure how long its going to take to accomplish all of that because this is a pretty time consuming process AND it involves a tone of dirt, which I will need to have delivered. Stay tuned...